CVS Health will continue to dispense drugs that are FDA-approved and legal as the country faces an "unacceptable" slide in protecting women's health, the company's CEO, Karen Lynch, told an audience in Washington, D.C., March 29.
"CVS is a strong proponent of women's health," Ms. Lynch told the Axios What's Next Summit 2023. "It is unacceptable that a country like ours is going backwards in maternal health."
The comments follow a successful push by investment group Arjuna Capital to convince CVS Health to strengthen its reproductive health data privacy protections.
In a wide-ranging interview, Ms. Lynch also discussed the need for far greater focus on mental health issues, particularly in corporations, and CVS' blue-sky approach to healthcare innovation. She described the mental health crisis affecting approximately 50 million Americans as the "collateral damage of the pandemic."
And, on the day CVS Health closed its $8 billion acquisition of Signify Health, Ms. Lynch pointed to the agreement to acquire primary care network Oak Street Health as a crucial stage in her company's development in the space.
"When you look around the corner, there is a tsunami of aging Americans," she said of the Oak Street transaction, which will focus on Medicare patients across its more than 160 centers.
"We are constantly innovating across the entire health spectrum," she said. "Our North Star is improving the quality of and access to health."